Jim Vickaryous

The steel barrels looked cold in the late January dusk as I stared down the working end of a double-barrel shotgun. The man with his finger on the trigger smiled. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you?” he asked. He had the element of surprise, but I couldn’t just give up. Could I reason my way out of this? I blurted out, “I could give you some legal advice, you might need some if you kill me.” The barrels lowered. “I do have some problems that I could use a lawyer’s advice on.” With a bit of quick wit, my would-be executioner became my client. I gave some quick legal advice on matters other than his threatening my life and made a quick exit. Somewhat like the Vizier’s daughter in Arabian Nights, telling tales so gripping that her executioner could not bear to drop the blade, I came up with an action plan that spared my life. In law, as in life, the ability to act decisively, sometimes under pressure, can mean the difference between success and failure.

The law requires action. The old affirmative defense of laches, rooted in equity law, holds that failing to act when you should, can forfeit your rights. Older than Rome, the maxim Vigilantibus non dormientibus æquitas subvenit reminds us that equity favors the vigilant. Inaction, then, forfeits what diligence might protect. The ancient Latin poet Horace summed it up much more eloquently than me: Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.  In English, “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.” Indeed, the action taken today is much more effective than the action taken next year.

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